History UsefulNotes / IvyLeague

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Lisa has an ImagineSpot where, having been caught cheating on a test, Brown remains the only Ivy League university open to her.

* In the Creator/SamRaimi ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'', Peter Parker attends Columbia.

** As did [[Series/HowIMetYourMother Marshall Eriksen]].
* UpperClassTwit Nate Archibald from Literature/GossipGirl goes there.
* In Series/TheSopranos, Tony's daughter Meadow goes to Columbia.

* Brian from ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' attended to Brown, but dropped out one class short of graduating. In the episode "Brian Goes Back to College", he returns to complete his education (unsuccessfully).

* '''Cornell University''' in Ithaca, UsefulNotes/{{New York|State}}: established in 1865. The only one that gets support from a state government (it's not exactly public, but the State of New York provides some of its budget). Motto: [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study]].

Humorously, UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball would not exist if not for Harvard and the Ivy League. The game was nearly banned by Harvard's president due to all of the fatalities, until a [[UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt Harvard alumnus]] stepped in, and mediated a new set of rules with representatives from Harvard, Yale, and Princeton designed to make the game safer. Incidentally, the first game of American football—which resembled a cross of [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball soccer]] and UsefulNotes/{{rugby|Union}} more than the modern sport—was a UsefulNotes/NewJersey affair played between Princeton and non-Ivy Rutgers in 1869. Rutgers won.

On the flip side, the Ivy League is also associated with social elitism. It is often subjected to a unique form of StrawmanU, one in which most of the students are [[RichBitch snobbish, preppy]], [[BlueBlood old-money]] [[WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant WASPs]] who are already set for life, and are only going to college to acquire a veneer of respectability (for when they become executives and investment bankers) and to get into their fathers' "old boys" networks and secret societies. Any student who isn't a member of this elite gets spit on and bossed around by them, partly because of the aforementioned elitism, and partly because most of the people who are academically gifted enough to get into an Ivy League school (without resorting to {{nepotism}}) are nerds who had already been encountering this for [[MiddleSchool twelve]] [[HighSchool years]]. Such a school will typically be the setting of a SlobsVersusSnobs plot. Essentially, it is the [[TransAtlanticEquivalent American equivalent]] of UsefulNotes/{{Oxbridge}}.

Of course, this hasn't been true of the Ivy schools for decades, but because so few people will ever see the inside of them, the stereotypes linger. Nonetheless, it makes for good drama and comedy both.

* Current [[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation Toronto Raptors]] guard Jeremy Lin.

* UsefulNotes/AndrewYang, who joined Creator/{{CNN}} as a commentator after bowing out of the 2020 Democratic presidental race: Brown 1996 and Columbia Law 1999.

** Stereotype: The other ButtMonkey of the Ivy League. The fallback school for those who couldn't get into the others. Has a really hard engineering school, though. The safety nets under the bridges on campus may or may not have something to do with that.

The renown of the Ivy League is such that the name "Ivy" is also used to describe other colleges with strong academic reputations. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ivies "Little Ivies"]] may refer to the "Little Three" of Amherst, Wesleyan and Williams, or to a set of small and selective liberal arts colleges (mostly in the NESCAC[[note]]New England Small College Athletic Conference, part of NCAA Division III[[/note]] sporting conference). [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Ivy "Public Ivies"]] are [[UsefulNotes/AmericanEducationalSystem public universities]] that are said to provide an Ivy League-quality education at an affordable price, while [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Ivy "Southern Ivies"]] are [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin exactly what they sound like]]—in fact, there was talk in TheSixties of forming a "Magnolia Conference" of elite private Southern universities[[note]]The primary candidates for joining were Vanderbilt (in Nashville), Duke (Durham, NC), Tulane (New Orleans), Rice (Houston), and Southern Methodist (Dallas).[[/note]] that wanted to maintain big-ticket sports programs without cutting corners on academics, as they felt that their rivals were doing. There are even hypothetical [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Ivy_League "Black Ivies"]], for the historically black colleges set on serving African-Americans after the Civil War, the most famous of which is Howard University in UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC. Unlike the normal Ivy League, Black Ivies are more focused on undergraduate study.

The renown of the Ivy League is such that the name "Ivy" is also used to describe other colleges with strong academic reputations. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ivies "Little Ivies"]] may refer to the "Little Three" of Amherst, Wesleyan and Williams, or to a set of small and selective liberal arts colleges (mostly in the NESCAC[[note]]New England Small College Athletic Conference, part of NCAA Division III[[/note]] sporting conference). [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Ivy "Public Ivies"]] are [[UsefulNotes/AmericanEducationalSystem public universities]] that are said to provide an Ivy League-quality education at an affordable price, while [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Ivy "Southern Ivies"]] are [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin exactly what they sound like]]—in fact, there was talk in TheSixties of forming a "Magnolia Conference" of elite Southern universities[[note]]The primary candidates for joining were Vanderbilt, Duke, Tulane, Rice, and Southern Methodist University in Dallas.[[/note]] that wanted to maintain big-ticket sports programs without cutting corners on academics, as they felt that their rivals were doing. There are even hypothetical [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Ivy_League "Black Ivies"]], for the historically black colleges set on serving African-Americans after the Civil War. Unlike the normal Ivy League, Black Ivies are more focused on undergraduate study.

* In ''Film/IronMan'', when an interviewer's line of questioning makes it clear she fancies herself an anti-war activist, Tony Stark guesses her alma mater as [[StrawmanU Berkeley]], and she corrects him to Brown.

* As did Creator/JimmyStewart, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Logan Joshua Logan]], Creator/JoseFerrer, Wayne Rogers (''Series/{{MASH}}''), Brooke Shields (''Series/SuddenlySusan''), Creator/DavidDuchovny, [[http://www.amazon.com Jeff Bezos]], Creator/DeanCain, and First Lady Michelle Obama. In fact, the last five were all at Princeton during the ''same four-year span'' between 1982 and 1985.

* Former professional wrestler Christopher Nowinski, now an activist on concussions in sports.[[note]]Nowinski was forced to retire from Wrestling/{{WWE}} due to a series of concussions.[[/note]]

* Current [[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation Atlanta Hawks]] guard Jeremy Lin.

On the flip side, the Ivy League is also associated with social elitism. It is often subjected to a unique form of StrawmanU, one in which most of the students are [[RichBitch snobbish, preppy]], [[BlueBlood old-money]] [[WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant WASPs]] who are already set for life, and are only going to college to acquire a veneer of respectability (for when they become executives and investment bankers) and to get into their fathers' "old boys" networks and secret societies. Any student who isn't a member of this elite gets spit on and bossed around by them, partly because of the aforementioned elitism, and partly because most of the people who are academically gifted enough to get into an Ivy League school (without resorting to {{nepotism}}) are nerds who had already been encountering this for [[MiddleSchool twelve]] [[HighSchool years]]. Such a school will typically be the setting of a SlobsVersusSnobs plot. Essentially, it is the [[TransAtlanticEquivalent American equivalent]] of {{Oxbridge}}.

* Professional wrestler and real-life lawyer David Otunga.

Important note: Neither Princeton nor Brown have law schools, nor does Princeton have a medical school.[[note]]The "University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro"—yes, the similarity to ''Series/{{House}}'' may be intentional—is associated jointly with the ''University of Pennsylvania'' Medical System and with Rutgers' Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.[[/note]] In real life, someone claiming to have gone to "Princeton Law" is lying;[[note]]Unless the year is like 1870 and the person you're talking to is one of the ''seven'' graduates of Princeton's brief experiment in the 1840s and 50s in running a law school[[/note]] in fiction, "Princeton Law" and "Brown Law" are useful ways to establish a prestigious lineage for a lawyer/judge/legal scholar without tying him/her down to a real school, its records, and traditions.

Important note: Neither Princeton nor Brown have law schools, nor does Princeton have a medical school.[[note]]The "University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro"—yes, the similarity to ''Series/{{House}}'' may be intentional—is associated with the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, which is part of "Public Ivy" Rutgers effective 1 July 2013.[[/note]] In real life, someone claiming to have gone to "Princeton Law" is lying;[[note]]Unless the year is like 1870 and the person you're talking to is one of the ''seven'' graduates of Princeton's brief experiment in the 1840s and 50s in running a law school[[/note]] in fiction, "Princeton Law" and "Brown Law" are useful ways to establish a prestigious lineage for a lawyer/judge/legal scholar without tying him/her down to a real school, its records, and traditions.

** Stereotype: Business nerds, future insider traders. Too proud of having been founded by UsefulNotes/BenjaminFranklin. '''Never''' to be confused with Penn State.

* '''Columbia University''' ([[UsefulNotes/TheThirteenAmericanColonies originally]] King's College) in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, New York: established in 1754. Motto: In lumine Tuo videbimus lumen ("In thy light shall we see the light").

* '''Cornell University''' in Ithaca, [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkState New York]]: established in 1865. The only one that gets support from a state government (it's not exactly public, but the State of New York provides some of its budget). Motto: [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study]].

* In the video game ''[[VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies Plants vs. Zombies]]'', the upgrade plant Cob Cannon attended Harvard.

* In ''Film/IronMan1'', when an interviewer's line of questioning makes it clear she fancies herself an anti-war activist, Tony Stark guesses her alma mater as [[StrawmanU Berkeley]], and she corrects him to Brown.

* HoratioAlger, Harvard 1852.

* Current [[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation Brooklyn Nets]] guard Jeremy Lin.

* Both UsefulNotes/BillClinton and his wife UsefulNotes/{{Hillary|RodhamClinton}} attended Yale Law School

* Legendary OSS/CIA spymaster JamesJesusAngleton was a Yale man.

* As did Creator/JimmyStewart, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Logan Joshua Logan]], Creator/JoseFerrer, Wayne Rogers (''Series/{{Mash}}''), Brooke Shields (''Series/SuddenlySusan''), Creator/DavidDuchovny, [[http://www.amazon.com Jeff Bezos]], Creator/DeanCain, and First Lady Michelle Obama. In fact, the last five were all at Princeton during the ''same four-year span'' between 1982 and 1985.

* Author/adventurer/lecturer RichardHalliburton was Princeton Class of 1922.

* Playwright and Nobel Laureate Eugene O'Neill, Princeton Class of 1910.

* UsefulNotes/BarackObama, Columbia 1983.[[note]]He initially started at Occidental College but transferred to Columbia after his sophomore year.[[/note]]

On the flip side, the Ivy League is also associated with social elitism. It is often subjected to a unique form of StrawmanU, one in which most of the students are [[RichBitch snobbish, preppy]], [[BlueBlood old-money]] [[WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant WASPs]] who are already set for life, and are only going to college to acquire a veneer of respectability (for when they become [[CorruptCorporateExecutive executives and investment bankers]]) and to get into their fathers' "old boys" networks and secret societies. Any student who isn't a member of this elite gets spit on and bossed around by them, partly because of the aforementioned elitism, and partly because most of the people who are academically gifted enough to get into an Ivy League school (without resorting to {{nepotism}}) are nerds who had already been encountering this for [[MiddleSchool twelve]] [[HighSchool years]]. Such a school will typically be the setting of a SlobsVersusSnobs plot. Essentially, it is the [[TransAtlanticEquivalent American equivalent]] of {{Oxbridge}}.

** Stereotype: A [[StrawmanU Jim Jones University]] where everybody dual-majors in [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Wall Street ethics]] and [[WackyFratboyHijinx partying]]. That, or every other person you meet is a recruiter for a spy agency (due to the school's famous international relations program).

It's also worth noting that the mystique of the Ivy League holds less sway in parts of the country that aren't the northeast. While people on the East Coast dream of going to Princeton or Harvard, Californians often dream of getting into Stanford, Southern Cal, or the University of California, Berkeley instead, while Southerners have their sights set on Vanderbilt, William and Mary, University of Virginia, Duke, Emory, Tulane, or Rice. Even people in the relatively close Midwest often aim for Northwestern, Washington University in St. Louis, Rose-Hulman, University of Michigan, The Ohio State University, Case Western, Notre Dame, or the University of Chicago instead.

Important note: Neither Princeton nor Brown have law schools, nor does Princeton have a medical school.[[note]]The "University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro"—yes, the similarity to ''Series/{{House}}'' may be intentional—is associated with the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, which is part of "Public Ivy" Rutgers effective 1 July 2013.[[/note]] In real life, someone claiming to have gone to "Princeton Law" is lying; in fiction, "Princeton Law" and "Brown Law" are useful ways to establish a prestigious lineage for a lawyer/judge/legal scholar without tying him/her down to a real school, its records, and traditions.

* '''Princeton University''' in Princeton, UsefulNotes/NewJersey: established in 1746. Motto: Dei sub numine viget ("Under God's power she flourishes").

* JodieFoster, Yale 1984.

* As did Creator/JimmyStewart, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Logan Joshua Logan]], Creator/JoseFerrer, Wayne Rogers (''Series/{{Mash}}''), Brooke Shields (''Series/SuddenlySusan''), Creator/DavidDuchovny, [[http://www.amazon.com Jeff Bezos]], Dean Cain (''Series/LoisAndClark''), and First Lady Michelle Obama. In fact, the last five were all at Princeton during the ''same four-year span'' between 1982 and 1985.

* '''Columbia University''' ([[UsefulNotes/TheColonialPeriod originally]] King's College) in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, New York: established in 1754. Motto: In lumine Tuo videbimus lumen ("In thy light shall we see the light").